Buffalo Wild Wings’ ‘boneless wings’ aren’t wings at all, suit says

Imitation crab meat, baby carrots seen as similar ‘impostors.’

A new lawsuit has a bone to pick with Buffalo Wild Wings: A Chicago man is suing the popular chain for false advertising, claiming its “boneless wings” aren’t wings at all.

Aimen Halim says he bought “boneless wings” in January only to find that they were, in fact, made of chicken breast. “Unbeknown to Plaintiff and other consumers, the Prod- ucts are not wings at all, but instead, slices of chicken breast meat deep-fried like wings,” says the lawsuit, which also names parent company Inspire Brands. “Indeed, the Products are more akin, in com- position, to a chicken nugget rather than a chicken wing.”

T he nomencla t ure of “boneless wings” has long irked poultry purists. In 2020, Ander Christensen of Lincoln, Nebraska, stirred the nation with an impassioned speech to his City Council on the subject, pleading “that we as a city remove the name ‘bone- less wings’ from our menus and from our hearts.”

An Associated Press story last month called the boneless wing a “culinary lie” and one example of a category of “gentle impostors” that includes imitation crab meat and baby carrots (which are actually adult carrots whittled down to an adorable size). Cookbook author and TV personality Christopher Kimball told the news service that most consumers have “no idea where any of this stuff comes from.”

“You’re associating it with the Super Bowl and parties and fun, so you transform the perception of the product,” Kimball said. “You can blame the food companies, but we’re buying it.”

Like many who lament the rise of “boneless wings,” Halim’s suit traces its origin to rising costs for chicken wings. In the 2008 recession, it says, poultry processors saw a drop in demand for breast meat as demand for wings — deemed an affordable luxury — soared.

Around the same time, the buyers for wings grew hungrier, the lawsuit says, with Buffalo Wild Wings expanding its reach, along with chains such as Atomic Wings, Wingstop and Wing Zone — all of which further pushed up the price of wings and made it cheaper for restaurants to substitute breast meat.